


Supergirl - It's Complicated

by DKGwrites



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 16:50:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11189310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DKGwrites/pseuds/DKGwrites
Summary: This takes place after the end of Season 2.  National City is still reeling from the Daxam invasion.  A portal stands outside of the city proper, a chilling reminder of what befell them and what could happen again.  Lena spends her days and nights at L-Corp trying to rebuild and working on a project she shares with no one.  She avoids Kara, guilt heavy upon her shoulders for the part she played in placing trust in Rhea.  This starts within a memory, within a dream, and reveals the hopes and dreams that make the child into the person they will one day be.  There are no answers offered here, only questions.





	1. The Manhattan Project

_Lena was five-years-old the first time she went to see the magic show with her father, Lionel.  She had only been with the Luthors for less than a year at the time.  Lillian had been…stern.  Stern was a good term.  When Lena did well at learning something new, like French, or her fractions and decimals, or especially when she did well in chess, Lillian would give her a nod.  That nod was the closest to approval Lena would get from her new mother.  It let the little girl know she was on the right path and also that there was room for improvement._

_Lex was very warm and welcoming, but he was older and had his own things to do.  Lena adored spending time with him.  He was happy to be with his new sister, but as soon as their mother saw them bonding her face darkened.  She seemed to always find a task for one of them to do.  Chess was the exception.  They could play chess together, so Lena played with gusto._

_Lionel, her father, he was a joy when he was home.  He was as warm and close as Lillian was cold and distant.  It was almost as if he could see the storm brewing between Lillian and Lena and he meant to dissipate it with his presence.  On one such weekend home, he announced he was taking Lena to a magic show.  Lena’s eyes lit up at the word magic.  Lillian had a few choice words for her husband about lying to children and Luthors not being fools.  Lena was soon ushered away from the discussion._

_The next morning, dressed in a lovely green velvet dress, patent leather shoes with a bright silver buckle, and a warm black wool coat, little Lena Luthor excitedly entered the hall holding onto her father’s hand.  The ceiling was huge and slightly curved with brightly painted figures adorning it.  It was a marvel like so much that she’d seen in her new life.  They were lead down to seats in the front row center.  The stage lights were bright even in front of the red velvet curtain.  Sounds from people all around them pressed in on the little girl, and she looked about nervously._

_“Are you all right, darling?” Lionel asked, his brown eyes kind under his slightly bushy eyebrows._

_Lena nodded, green eyes popping brightly with the lights.  “This is exciting, isn’t it?  Will we see some real magic today, Father?”_

_Lionel smiled, loving every moment of his time with her.  The way she looked, her smile, so much like her mother though he could never say that.  No, that would be civil war at home.  He was happy just to have rescued her and have his daughter.  He was only sad to have lost her mother._

_Instead of saying anything of that ilk, he gently tussled his daughter’s hair and said, “What do you think my little one?”_

_A very serious look crossed Lena’s face as she bit at her lower lip. “Well, Mother, says that there isn’t any magic, that it’s all trickery.  She says fools believe in magic and that Luthors aren’t fools.”_

_Lionel sighed, not surprised his wife was managing to ruin a day even when she wasn’t present.  She might have been an appropriate match, but that didn’t make her a pleasant one._

_“And what does Lena say?” Lionel asked._

_“Wait, wait, wait,” Lena said, waggling a finger in her father’s face.  “I’m not done telling you what Mother says yet.”_

_“Oh.” Lionel laughed at that little touch of Lillian, though there was no humor in his laugh.  In only seven months, Lillian was already infecting the child.  Lionel promised himself to spend more time with Lena.  Lex might be a lost cause, but he wasn’t giving up on this child._

_“Please do go on Miss Luthor.  I can’t wait to hear this.”_

_“Well, um…Mother says that scientists should, um, keep an open mind.  Mother is a doctor you know, and, um, she makes sure I learn my, um, math and science.  My tutor…say I’m a good little scientist.”_

_Lionel waited, but when it seemed like Lena might be done with Lillian’s bits of wisdom he asked, “So…?”_

_“So, I, um, I want to keep open mind.  I do not want to be a fool, but I, um, do want to be a scientist.”  Lena nodded to herself as if that were that.  “I will keep an open mind…for now.  Plus, I, um, I think magicians saw ladies in half.  I think doctors do that and Mother’s a doctor.”_

_At that Lionel did laugh, putting his arm around his daughter and pulling her into him for a one-armed hug.  “Oh, I’m fairly certain there are a few ladies that your mother would have liked to have sawed in half.  You got that right you clever girl.”_

_The duo chatted for the next twenty minutes or so until the house lights dimmed.  When the magic show started, Lena sat very attentively.  Lionel watched her from time to time, wondering if he’d see a look of awe or skepticism, but he just saw rapt attention.  He’d take that from his young scientist.  When the show was done, he carried his daughter out in his arm, watching her face curiously._

_“A penny for your thoughts,” Lionel said._

_Lena held out her hand and said, “Give here.”_

_“I…” He patted at his pocket, smiling slowly.  “Can you break a twenty, darling?”_

_She shook her head.  “You can owe me, Father.”_

_That got another laugh.  “I promise you that I’m good for it.  So tell me, what’s on your mind, my little capitalist?”_

_“What’s a capitals?”_

_“A capitalist is someone who uses their wealth to invest and trade, to build on that wealth and…” Lionel saw the growing look of confusion on his daughter’s face and said, “Someone who’s very good with money, like me, the CEO of Luthor Corp.  A good CEO is a capitalist.”_

_“Am I a good CEO, Father?” Lena asked, pronouncing each letter in CEO slowly._

_Eyebrows_ _shooting up, Lionel said, “Well…uh…if you want to be a good capitalist and earn your pennies, tell me what’s on your mind.”_

_Biting her lip again, Lena looked thoughtful before admitting, “I’m trying to decide if magic is real or not.”_

_“Well, did it look real?”_

_“It did,” Lena replied a bit breathily, dropping her head to her father’s shoulder._

_“Then why do you question it?”_

_The little girl lifted her head again and met her father head on as she peered at him with intense little green eyes.  “Because Mother, she um, she says that scientists question everything.”_

_Nodding, Lionel replied, “Then scientists should question what Mother tells them.”_

_Lena’s eyes widened._

_With a growing smile, Lionel added, “You don’t have to tell her that I said that.”_

_“I won’t,” Lena whispered.  Once again, the little girl worried away at her lower lip._

_“Hey there, that biting of your lip is quite a habit, isn’t it?  Tell me what’s on your mind, darling.  I’ll give you a whole handful of pennies when we get home.  I promise.”_

_Lena nodded.  “Father, is believing in magic wrong?”_

_Lines appeared across Lionel’s face as his smile grew.  “Darling girl, if you want to be a scientist, then you need to learn that in order to create you first need to conceive.  The first part of conception is belief.  Lena, we can’t make anything we haven’t first imagined.”  Tickling her belly, he added.  “Well, except by accident, and sometimes those are the best surprises.”_

_Lena laughed while his fingers danced across the fabric of her velvet dress._

_“So now, what do you want, darling.  Do you want to pull back the curtain and look behind it, or do you want to enjoy the illusion?  Do you want to believe in magic, Lena?”_

“Lena, Lena, Lena?”

A hand shook Lena’s shoulder, pulling her from her dream and memories of the past.  She blinked sleep and pleasant memories of her father from her eyes.  Odd, she thought of him differently in the dream now, seeing him as someone who saw her mother when he looked at her.  She knew she’d never see him the same now; she’d never remember her childhood without the lens of truth knowing she was actually Lionel Luthor’s birth child.

“Hmmm?” Pushing herself upright, Lena stared into bright blue eyes and a familiar face.  “What are you…?  Where am…?”

Her hand on the silver lab table as she pushed herself up, Lena realized she’d fallen asleep in one of the R&D labs at L-Corp.  It wasn’t the first time in the last few weeks.  It was par for the course of late. She’d work a twelve hour day, no lunch, come down here and work for at least another six, fall asleep.  Then she’d go upstairs and grab a shower and change.  On the weekend she’d go home long enough to grab some horizontal sleep, sometimes in her actual bed, and get new clothes so she could do it all again.  She had a city to rebuild after the Daxam invasion and a pet project to work on.  All of this was why she’d been avoiding a certain blonde reporter who was currently standing in front of her in her R&D lab.

“How the hell did you get in here!?” Lena asked in one of her least pleasant voices which was pretty damn unpleasant since she was Lena Luthor.

“I…” Kara took a step back, shocked by the apparent hostility.  “You haven’t returned any of my calls or texts.”

Face impassive, Lena said, “That does not answer my question.”

Kara slapped the badge on the table.  “I borrowed it from Jess.  She’s worried about you.  When was the last time you slept in your own bed or ate properly…or showered?”

“Damn disloyalty,” Lena said, snatching the badge off the table.  “I’m going to fire that girl.  She’s much too well paid to be giving out top level clearance security badges to just anyone.  Why of all the—”

“No, you’re not.  You’re barely functioning right now, and you couldn’t function at all without Jess.  Anyway, I’m not just anyone this is me, Kara.  I’m your friend.  Jess let me borrow the badge because she’s really worried about you.  Lena, you’re not taking care of yourself.  Jess says that you’re living here at work.  She says she can’t ply you to eat most days.  There are clothes hanging in your bathroom and…” Kara slid her glasses back then paused, dropping her hands again.  “She’s really, really worried, Lena.  She’s never seen you like this which is why she finally called me.  What’s so important that you’ve been spending all your—?”

Suddenly, Lena snapped the laptop closed, stopping Kara from prying further into the contents of the screen.  Kara’s brows pressed together as curiosity played across her face.  She’d seen ‘Pb’, the symbol for lead.  There was some sort of formula that Kara had no time to recognize let alone understand.  She saw the term ‘chelation therapy’ which she also didn’t recognize.  Then Lena was snapping it shut, and Kara was just glad she had quick reflexes because her hand had been on the base of the laptop.  She wouldn’t have been hurt, but the laptop would have broken if the screen had struck her hand.

“It’s private!” Lena grumbled, rubbing at her face with both hands, then exhaling in a way that made her whole body shudder and deflate.  When she spoke again, her voice was softer, much more like Lena.  “It’s not ready anyway, nowhere near ready.  I’m just chasing my tail right now.  It feels like a fecking waste of time but…I broke it, and I can fix it.”

“You broke what?” Kara asked, reaching out a hand but pulling it back, unsure the contact would be welcome.

“Everything,” Lena admitted, not looking at her friend but instead dropping her hands to the table and staring at them with despair.  “I broke…everything.”

“I…I don’t understand.”

Lena’s head snapped around, green eyes practically glowing with intensity within the dark rings of nights lost to sleeplessness inspired by guilt.  “You’ve been outside, Kara.  Just look around.  Everything, every last brick out of place, tree uprooted, person in the hospital, life lost…” For a moment Lena closed her eyes as she drew in a breath, her lower lip trembling slightly.  She opened her eyes and spoke, but her voice wasn’t much above a whisper.  “Every love sent to space, never to return.  That was me.  I did that.  I broke everything.  Do you know why?”

Kara shook her head, but she wasn’t saying no.  She was telling Lena to stop.  She was telling Lena this wasn’t her, wasn’t her fault, that her friend didn’t break everything.  Kara wanted to pull Lena into a hug as she did so many times before, but the woman looked to be made of glass right now.  Kara didn’t know what Lena’s shattering point was, but it looked close.

“I’m a Luthor,” Lena said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  “I drink like my father and smile his charming smile, running his business efficiently and creatively.  Then, in one swift action, I’ve done more to prove right the hatred and xenophobia of aliens of my insane brother and my vitriol spewing mother than they did with their whole lives.  I have done, in my short life, the one thing I battled furiously against ever doing.  I have proven not just to be a Luthor, but to be the most Luthor of them all.  I spent twenty-four years not knowing who I was, but as soon as I knew I grabbed hold of my legacy and exceeded all expectations.  Oh, people were right not to trust me.  I betrayed this city.  I betrayed the world.  I betrayed the one person who dared to trust me and call me friend.  If that isn’t the very definition of a Luthor, then I don’t know what is.”

Kara reached out, laying a hand on Lena’s arm and trying to keep her voice from cracking when her friend immediately jerked her arm away from the offered comfort.  “Lena, none of this is your fault.”

The sound Lena made was almost a laugh and yet as far from one as one could be.  “My fault and my responsibility.  I’ll walk you out.”

As Lena shoved her laptop into a case, Kara tried to talk to her friend.  “Lena, can’t we just…Hey, I just want to…Lena, I know you’re upset but…” As Lena turned away from her for the third time, Kara grabbed her friend’s arm and turned her back with a bit of force.  “Enough!  Why are you punishing me?  I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I’m not punishing you.”

“Oh, yes you are.  Everyone else in my life has each other.  I feel so alone, Lena, and I need my best friend.  Why are you ignoring me?  Why are you pushing me away?  I know you’re upset.  We’re all upset.  When things go wrong, friends don’t push away they pull in.  I’m pulling in, Lena.  Come here.”

As Kara tried to pull her closer, Lena struggled and pushed away from the blonde.  “I’m not your friend.”

“Wh…what?”

“A friend would never have done to you what I did to you, Kara.  I thought because I knew Supergirl because she’d been nice to me, that I’d been wrong about all aliens.  I was overzealous and didn’t look at the possible consequences.  I was like the creators of the Atomic Bomb.  Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”

“Lena, you didn’t make a bomb.  You made a portal so that you could end hunger and poverty.  You’re nothing like—”

“They ended a war!” Lena stared, nostrils flaring as the tendons in her neck stood out.  “In Hiroshima perhaps 80,000 people were killed and then, three days later, in Nagasaki another 100,000 people were killed.  Do you know a blind girl 120 miles away from the Atomic Bomb saw the flash?”  Lena waited until Kara shook her head to continue.  “Scientists, we make our places in history whether we enjoy them or not.  Rabi, Oppenheimer, and Bainbridge all worked on the Manhattan Project.  Rabi, after the bomb was released, he felt the equilibrium in nature had been upset as if humankind had become a threat to the world it inherited.  Bainbridge, who was the test director, he said, ‘Now we’re all sons of bitches.’  Even Oppenheimer who was thrilled with the project’s success quoted Bhagavad Gita in saying, ‘I am become Death the destroyer of worlds.’  Kara, I destroyed National City, and destroyed your world.”

“I’m still your friend,” Kara said quietly.  “I don’t hate you.”

Pulling her bag over her shoulder, Lena replied, “Well, that makes one of us.  Look, Kara, you’ve always been the most amazing friend to me.  You’ve been sweet, welcoming, honest, trustworthy, completely like no one else I’ve ever known.  I thought you were a blessing in my life, but it turns out I was a curse in yours.  I always felt like I didn’t deserve you, and now it makes sense.  I want to fix things but…”

Kara nodded, reaching out and slowly, carefully, placing her hand on Lena’s arm, heartened when the other woman didn’t pull away.  “Let’s fix things.  What can we do?”

“Not we, me.  I’m doing what I can, but I don’t know if I’ll have time.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t.  Let me walk you out,” Lena said heading toward the door.  She kept moving, out the lab doorway and toward the main entrance/exit of L-Corp.  “You know, the families of our soldiers who came home after World War II were very happy to see them.”

“I’m sure they were,” Kara said catching up to Lena.  “Is this about the Atomic Bomb again?”

“It did its job.  It saved lives. It cost lives.  Soon everyone had to have one.  It was good.  It was evil.  How many times over can we destroy the world now?”

“Once is too much,” Kara said, trying not to remember what it looked like to see your world break apart in front of your eyes.

“That portal could have been used to help millions, but now they’re an excuse.  It can’t be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.”

Stepping in front of Lena, Kara asked, “What are you talking about?”

“We’re in a legal battle with the government, and we’re going to lose.  It’s just a stall technique.  We’ll lose, and they’ll seize the portal, the land it’s on, all of the documentation, schematics, formulas, everything needed to make it work.  The U.S. government could feed the world, but instead, they’ll have the ability to move their troops anywhere in the world nearly instantly.  The portal will be a staging ground for military actions all across the globe.  National City will be done.  Then we’ll start exploring space.”

“You didn’t copyright it, protect it, trademark in some way?”  Kara felt her panic rising at the thought of what Lena was saying.

“Of course I did.  It is L-Corp technology, and that won’t matter.  We’re going to lose.  They’ll take the portal, and then they’ll come here to seize everything else.  That’s when it will get ugly.”  Lena scrubbed at her face with one hand, then running it through her hair.

“Worse?  It’s going to get worse?”

“There isn’t anything else.  I destroyed all documentation and electronic copies as soon as the portal was closed.  I knew they’d come after the technology.  I need the portal, so I can’t destroy that, but the rest of it had to go.”

As Lena walked by her, Kara shook her head in confusion.  Hurrying after the other woman, she caught up to Lena outside and asked, “Wait, so the government can or cannot use the portal without the documentation?”

“They cannot.  They won’t even recognize some of the elements in it let alone how to use it.  Maybe, eventually, enough scientists working together will figure it out.  It will take years, years and years.  Maybe Supergirl will just smash the damn thing before then.  Maybe we’ll get new visitors, and it won’t matter.  I don’t care.  I just need to make sure the government doesn’t get access to the only data source on how to use the portal anytime soon.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kara said, grabbing Lena’s arm when the woman tried to walk away.  “You just said you destroyed all of the data.  Which is it?”

“No, I said I destroyed all documents and electronic copies.  There is one copy left, one data source.” Lena in slightly, Lena tapped at her head with one finger.  “I need to finish up what I have to do at L-Corp before my lawyers lose their legal battle.  Once people find out, there is no other copy…” Arms outstretched, Lena started to walk backward away from Kara.

“What’s going to happen to you?”

“I don’t intend to stay around to find out.”

“Lena, I can help you.  I can protect you.”  When Lena kept walking, Kara just grew louder.  “I promised I’d always protect you!  You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Turning and mumbling, her voice not much over a whisper, Lena replied, “Then that’s a sad fucking commentary on your life.”

Kara’s shoulders fell.  When you’re Supergirl, a mumble might as well be a shout.  She watched her best friend walk away.  She’d lost her world once.  A month ago, it felt like it had broken again.  Now, she saw it crumbling once more.  For the Girl of Steel, she was starting to get used to feeling powerless.

Lena was tired enough she wished she’d either called her driver or just gone to sleep in her office.  She wanted to chase Kara off though.  Seeing the blonde had jumbled up her emotions.  Guilt, so much guilt, but also a desire to seek comfort.  Knowing Kara was hurting and wanted comfort, that was worse.  Lena wanted to help, but being in Kara’s life was what had caused the hurt.  The best thing Lena could do was fix what she could and then get as far away as possible.  Tokyo might be nice.  She like sake.

In the parking garage, Lena yawned and fumbled for the keys in her purse.  Her hands found the bottle of Five Hour Energy, and she considered drinking it.  They’d made up about half her meal plan of late.  She wondered if she’d need it to stay awake for the drive home, bust decided an open window and blasting radio would do her without her being wired by the time she got there.  Instead, she kept searching, head down until her hand closed around the keys.

Suddenly, Lena felt the cold metal of the knife against her throat, her pulse quickening.  She was tired.  No, she was fucking exhausted.  She’d passed tired about three weeks ago and plain old exhausted at least two weeks ago.  Now she was in that area where she could keep her legs moving forward enough to survive so long as nothing catastrophic happened.  Someone with a knife to her throat counted as a catastrophe.

She didn’t move for several moments, and neither did the person behind her.  After close to a minute she asked, “Business or pleasure?”

There was a grunt half-laugh, and then an obviously male voice said, “Oh, yeah.  I can see the resemblance now.”

Lifting one brow, Lena sighed.  That sounded like a reference to family.  Well…fuck.  “I don’t suppose you’re a hired gun who’d be interested in being bought off, are you?  Whatever you’re being paid, I can guarantee I have more money.  I’m by far the richest Luthor.”

“Yeah?”

“Truly.”

“Hmmm.” The man seemed to consider for a moment before saying, “Nah, she’d kill me.”

“My moth—?” As Lena lifted her head in surprise, the man grabbed the back of her neck with his free hand and pressed the knife to her throat.  “Not moving, I can do not moving.  My mother sent you?  I’m confused.  My mother saved my life last month.  What does she want?”

“You.”

“She could have sent a car.”

There was the sound of a racing engine, and then the squeal of tires as a car sped up alongside them and came to a sudden stop.

“Oh, she did,” Lena said.  “Though we aren’t on the best of terms, I would have met with her if she’d asked.  I do owe her my life.  You don’t need the knife.  I’ll go with you.”

“It’s not that kind of invitation,” the man with the knife to Lena’s throat replied.

“What kind of invitation is it?”

The driver got out of the car, walking up to Lena and pointing a Taser at her.  The man with the knife stepped away, breaking contact with Lena.

“Oh, it’s the kind where I ride in the trunk.  What the hell is my mother up—?” As 50,000 volts hit her, Lena’s whole body tensed and then she blacked out.

 

<><>

 

Head down, Kara walked along the streets of National City.  Tears were running freely along her face.  She knew Lena was avoiding her but expected that once Lena saw she wasn’t angry that things would be okay with them.  Kara was expecting guilt.  That made sense even though Lena had just been trying to make a better world and had been taken in my Rhea.  No, Lena was a victim.  Rhea was so unwilling to let her son be happy with a Kryptonian that Rhea had killed Mon-El’s father, tried to kill Kara, and now was chasing Lena to who knows where.  Even dead, Rhea wasn’t done destroying things.  Rhea’s legacy was despair.

“Stop!  Stop him!”

Kara looked up to see the man running her way.  He was carrying a purse that clearly didn’t go with his outfit and being chased by another man who was yelling after him.  Hands in her pockets, Kara sighed.  She was not in the mood to get her Super on right now.  She had made official plans with a tub of ice cream for as soon as she got home and a purse snatcher was not going to cause her to stand up either Ben or Jerry.  Right now, they were the only men in her life and the only ones likely to be there for the foreseeable future.

Kara kept walking until the purse snatcher was just about to run by her.  Suddenly, she snapped out her left arm, clotheslining the guy.  Shi upper half stopped immediately, and his legs continued forward in a very cartoonish fashion.  He fell like a brick, the air rushing out of him with gusto.  Kara placed a foot on the man’s chest while he lay there moaning.

Panting, the man who was chasing him ran up to them and said, “Hey…thanks, I…appreciate that.  That’s my…girlfriend’s…purse.”

“Figured,” Kara said grabbing the purse and handing it to the guy.  “You want to call the cops to pick this guy up?”

The boyfriend nodded.  “Soon as I…catch…my breath.”

“Right.” With a sigh, Kara said, “I’ll just um…I’ll just stand on this guy, I guess.  Whatever.  Perfect night.”

It was nearly an hour later before Kara got home.  She’d tried to skip out right as the cops got there, but was forced to give her statement.  Alex was going to flip out about that.  Kara had said she’d tripped the guy, but still, Alex would flip out.  It would get back to Maggie, and by this time tomorrow, Alex would know, and Kara would know about it.  This guy wasn’t exactly a high priority crime.  Kara should have just let him go.  Kara Danvers couldn’t be associated with crime-stopping in any way.

Kara closed her apartment door, dropping the keys in the dish on the table.  She hung up her purse and her coat, sighing loudly.  All she wanted was some ice cream and some Netflix.  Anything else that got in her way was going to get some Kryptonian heat vision at this point.

“You’re late.”

Kara jumped, shocked when someone spoke from her couch.  When a strange man stood up, turning to look at her, she leaned forward with confusion.  “Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?”

“Oh, I’m no one important.  I’m just the delivery man.  From all the take-out containers in your trash, I can tell you love delivery.”

Anger flaring, Kara’s hands balled into fists as she strode across the apartment at the man.  “You picked the wrong apartment on the wrong night to break in, buddy.”

“Hmmm.  She told me you were dangerous, volatile even.  She said to remain calm and approach you with extreme caution.  Then, she said to use the resources we were given and not expect anything else to be able to disable you.  Odd.  You don’t look like anything special.”

“She?  Who is she?” Kara asked. 

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in her neck and weakness flooded her system.  Instantly she knew it was Kryptonite.  Nothing else felt like that.  Nothing else made her feel so…just feel so.  Kara clamped a hand to the dart in her neck as she spun, seeing a man in an odd body suit in her kitchen, a handgun with scope in his hand.  Her legs collapsed underneath her even before she could pull the dart out. 

Staring down at Kara, the man from the couch gave her a crooked smile and said, “That’s a surprise, luv.” 

Then everything went black.


	2. Mother Knows Best

Slowly, Kara began to open her eyes.  She tried to move, but she felt sluggish and exhausted.  Fingers curled against a cold hard floor, grit picking up underneath her nails.  Her joints ached, and her head pounded.  Trying to push up on one arm did nothing.  She was as weak as a newborn kitten.  Her whole body was sore, and she felt dizzy and nauseous

Attempting to work through the cotton that still clouded her mind, Kara thought back to how she could have gotten to wherever she was.  She remembered…Lena.  She went to see Lena, and that had gone poorly.  Okay, that was an understatement.  Lena seemed as emotionally unwell as Kara physically felt right now.  Kara probably shouldn’t have let Lena push her away.  She should have…what?  She should have picked Lena up and flown away with her?  That had never been an option.  Okay, what happened next?  There had been that ridiculous purse snatcher followed by nearly an hour waiting for and with the cops.  Then Kara had gone home and…eyes widening, Kara remembered the voice, the man on the couch, the Kryptonite in her system.  She tried to push herself up again, fairing little better.  She had managed a few inches before she slumped to the ground again, the Kryptonite in her system really doing a number on her.

“It won’t help.  You’re shackled to the wall.”

Kara jerked at the voice in the room, calming slightly when she realized she knew it and then feeling worse because she did.  As bad as this situation was, Kara, didn’t want to drag anyone else into it.  With a shaky voice she barely recognized as her own, Kara managed to say, “Lena?”

“I’ve been through everything I can access in the room.  I haven’t been able to find a way out.  I’m not sure how they drugged you, but you’ve been out for a while.”

Kara turned her head, seeing Lena sitting about twenty feet away in the opposite corner.  There was a chair near her, and what looked like the taken apart remnants of another one near Lena.  The woman sat on the floor, back straight and staring out at the wall.  “Are you all right?  You look greenish.”

Lena pointed at the middle of the ceiling.  “It’s the lighting.  This place is worse than a cheap diner bathroom, and before you ask, I have been to one or two in my day.  You look and sound awful, and not just greenish.  Do you know what drug they gave you?”

“I…no.  I was shot with a dart in my apartment.  There was a man in there.  I feel so sick.  I’m sure I’ll be fine soon though, and then I’ll get us out of here.”

“You’re sweet,” Lena said with a hint of a smile.  “I’m so sorry you’re in here Kara.  It’s all my fault.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” Kara said, not sure how to explain it was about her without saying too much.  “This is probably—”

“This is my mother.”

“Lillian?”

“The only one I have, unfortunately.  She kidnapped us both and dumped us in here together.”

“Why?”  Kara asked.  “I remember going home, and there was a man.  I got hit in the neck with a dart and…he said something about being sent by she.  I’d forgotten that.  I asked who she was, but he didn’t tell me.”

“She is Lillian Luthor.  Why she wants you here, well it’s not for any good reason.  I’m going with leverage against me.  As I said; I’m sorry, Kara.”

“Maybe…what happened to you?”  Kara asked before she could start coming up with theories that could get her into trouble.  “Do you remember?”

“All too well.  They were waiting in my parking garage.  I’ll have to check into security if I survive this.  One held me at knifepoint while the other hit me with a taser.  I woke up along the trip zip-tied and in the trunk of a car.  I tried to find the trunk release, but it had been removed.  When we got outside here, and the car stopped, that’s when things got dicey.

“What happened?”

Lena sighed, her mind wandering back to just a few hours ago as she recalled her story and shared it with Kara.

_The car’s bouncing motion finally stopped, and Lena strained against her restraints once again.  The zip-ties held her tight, but she knew this was her last chance to get free.  She’d partially cut through the one at her wrists by rubbing it on some metal edge in the trunk.  She pulled just one more time and…her hands snapped free, and she fumbled around in the dark trunk for something, anything.  She wished this were an old black and white movie and there would be a tire iron just lying around.  She wished it were an old movie and there was more space.  At least she wasn’t a big person.  Her hands found a canvas bag that was velcroed to the floor.  She unzipped it, checking contents by feel: jumper cables, emergency triangle, tire gauge, rubber glove, plastic bag, wrench (that’s a keeper), papery tube with plastic cap…a flare._

_As Lena heard two voices outside drawing nearer, she stopped her searching.  She put the wrench close, pulled the cap of the flare and flipped it over, so the striking surface was near the igniting end.  She curled her body over the flare and wrench.  As soon as the truck was opened, she felt rough hands grab her.  As they began to lift her, she struck the flare and shoved her hand out, pushing the flare into the face of the person holding her._

_“Fuck!”_

_Lena was immediately dropped back into the trunk where she grabbed the wrench with her free hand.  She turned, striking out at the other man who grabbed for her.  She hit him with a glancing blow on the head, but he staggered back.  Lurching onto the ground, she hopped toward him, falling to land on him as she did.  He blocked the flare, knocking it from her hand, but she hit him again with the wrench.  It was her off-hand and didn’t do as much damage, but it still hurt.  She struck out again with the wrench, adding an elbow attack across his nose with the elbow of her other arm.  As his head snapped back, she switched the wrench to her on-hand, ready to bash his head in when a gunshot rang through the night air freezing her movements._

_“Really, gentleman?” Came the voice of Lillian Luthor.  “I sent you to collect one human girl, and this is what happens?  She weighs what, about 120 pounds or so and she takes you both out?  Lena, how much do you weigh?”_

_Flipping back her hair, Lena looked up at her mother who strode over to stare down at her gun in hand, and said, “I’m not going to dignify that with a response, Mother.  Why did you have your goons kidnap me?  I thought we were in a better place than this.  You saved my life last month.  You could have just texted me.  I would have shown up.”_

_Her face screwing up into an odd smile, Lillian replied, “I’m whimsical like this.  Honestly, Lena, you’ve barely left L-Corp since the invasion.  You’re not even spending time with friends.  I’m worried.”_

_As the man underneath Lena pushed her to the side, she slid to the dirt and said, “You’re kidding.  You kidnapped me because you’re worried about me?”_

_“Well, I am your mother.”_

_Lena sighed.  “Mother, I’m tired.  I don’t have the energy for whatever this is.  Either tell me what you want or shoot me.  Right now I’m tired enough that being shot seems slightly more attractive than spending time with you.”_

_Ignoring Lena, Lillian looked at the men and said, “See if you can manage to bring my daughter inside without getting yourselves knocked unconscious.”_

_As she was jerked to her feet, Lena asked, “So that’s a no to shooting me?”_

_Looking back over her shoulder, Lillian smiled again as she considered Lena, “Now we’re getting ahead of ourselves.”_

_Lena was carried to a room and placed into a chair where she was zip-tied to the arms. Her legs were cut loose from each other and then zip-tied to the legs of the chair.  It was sturdy and metal.  She tested it, finding it didn’t give.  The two men moved off to the side, watching her with obvious enmity.  Lillian took another seat, placing the gun off to the side now that Lena was firmly strapped in place.  It left Lena to eye the firearm, trying to see a way to gain her freedom and a weapon._

_“Don’t bother,” Lillian said.  “You’re just here for a few minutes of discussion, and then you’ll be out of here.  I hadn’t wanted to push this, Lena, but I feel like you’ve left me no choice.  You’re planning to leave the country, aren’t you?”_

_“I have no choice.  This isn’t about family, so don’t make it personal.  The government is going to take the portal.  I’m fighting against both national security and eminent domain filings.  My lawyers can stall, but we can’t win.  I have a limited amount of time before I need to flee extradition.”_

_“Where will you go?” Lillian asked._

_“You’re better off not knowing.”_

_“Lena, first of all, if the law catches up to me your whereabouts are the least of my worries.  Secondly, I would never sell you out.  We’re family.  I value that,” Lillian assured her daughter._

_Lena ignored the thinly veiled dig at her betrayal of her mother in turning Lillian into the police, and also the utter lie when Lillian left Lena for dead. There was nothing Luthors did better than practice the ancient art of self-preservation._

_“Mother, there are telepaths.  If you know it, you don’t have to tell it.  You know there are telepaths,” Lena reminded her mother._

_“Aliens,” Lillian grumbled.  “Lena, do you now understand why Lex did what he did in Metropolis?”_

_“Because he had an unrequited boy crush on Superman?”_

_“Really Lena?”  Lillian shook her head.  “Show some class.  You are still a Luthor.”_

_“Show some class?”  Raising one eyebrow, Lena replied, “Your goons kidnapped me at knifepoint, tased me, and threw me in the trunk of a car.  We don’t get to play ‘who is the classiest Luthor’ tonight.  That’s already been settled.  I win.  Move on.”_

_“They tased you?”  Turning to look at the two men, Lillian asked, “You tased my daughter?”_

_The man who had been hit with the wrench pointed at the other one._

_Curled in on himself in pain, the other man said, “She shoved a flare in my face.”_

_“Well, I told you to be careful with her.  I told you she was extremely clever and dangerous when backed into a corner,” Lillian said._

_“No you didn’t,” the man countered._

_“Ugh.  I told you she was a Luthor.  Same thing,” Lillian replied.  Turning back to Lena she added, “My apologies for the manhandling.  My resources are greatly limited, and you get what you pay for.  I could use access to a special account from L-Corp.”_

_“Hmmm.  I’ll consider that so my next kidnapping at your hands can be more comfortable.”_

_“I’d appreciate it,” Lillian said, either missing the sarcasm or not caring.  “Now, as I was saying, Lex might have gone to extremes in his attempts to make the world understand the threat we are in from the alien menace, but it’s real.  You saw for yourself just how real it is.  The ruins of National City is a monument to that threat.”_

_Lena sighed.  “Am I here for another lecture, Mother?  It’s all my fault.  I know.  I let them in.  I gave Earth over to the alien menace, and with that portal down there, it could happen again.  I’ve destroyed any record of how to use the portal, which is why I need to get away.  It has to stay shut down.  As much good as it can do, it can do even more harm.”_

_“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”_

_“I’ve given this nothing but for weeks.  You don’t need to worry.  The portal won’t be a problem.  You should be celebrating.  I expect people are flocking to Cadmus in droves.  Recruiting must be excellent,” Lena stated._

_“Oh, it’s up,” Lillian said.  “There are a few key people I can’t do this without though: a few politicians, some scientists, and the most brilliant engineer on the planet.”_

_Inhaling sharply, Lena said, “No.”_

_“You haven’t even heard my offer.”_

_“Pick up the gun and put it to my head.  The answer is still no.”_

_Lillian’s phone chimed, marking a text, and she checked it smiling._

_“What is that?  Why are you grinning like that?” Lena asked._

_“Oh, just getting a package from Amazon.  You know, something is being delivered.  They drop off almost anywhere now,” Lillian replied, still smiling._

_“I don’t know what you’re up to, but my answer is still no.  It doesn’t matter what you offer, what you threaten.  The answer is no, Mother.”_

_“The problem, Lena, is that you don’t understand the question.  Look, you have an open invitation.  We need you.  The alien menace is real.  You know that.  You can’t trust the people you think you can trust. Family, family is what you can trust.”_

_“Family.” Lena snorted.  “I don’t even know what that word means anymore.”_

_“You’re just confused.  Rhea, she betrayed you, didn’t she?”_

_“She manipulated me, and I was too eager to ask the right questions.  I was a fool.”_

_“Darling, you’re being too hard on yourself,” Lillian said.  “Everyone has been lying to you.  There were people who knew who Rhea was, people you knew, who purposefully kept the truth from you.  Lena, you’re at the middle of a huge conspiracy.  It was those lies, that conspiracy, that nearly lost the world to aliens.  You’re left filled with guilt, taking the blame, and still no one tells you the truth.”_

_“What the hell are you on about now?” Lena demanded._

_“Lena, I’m about to give you one of the greatest gifts a mother can give their daughter.  I’m going to give you the gift of clarity.”_

Lena’s voice quieted as she sat staring at the wall.

After more than a minute, Kara realized Lena wasn’t going to continue on her own and asked, “What happened next?”

“Then my mother shot me?”

“What!?” Kara tried to surge upright, but she only got halfway there before she slid back to the floor.  “You’ve been shot?”

Lena patted her right leg.  Her jacket had been cut up and tied around her thigh.  “Apparently clarity feels a lot like the slug from a revolver.  I have to admit; I’m becoming less and less clear with every passing moment.  I’ve tried to stop the bleeding as best as I can, but I think I’m going to bleed out eventually.”

“No…Lena I—”

“I’m so sorry, Kara.”

“You’re sorry?”

“I’m sorry my insane mother felt the need to kidnap you as part of whatever this is.  This is why Luthors don’t have friends.  Well, perhaps not this exact circumstances, but this sort of thing.  Our life is the worst, and we drag down anyone who gets too close.  You got too close, and I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s not your fault,” Kara said, her voice small with both emotion and weakness.

“That line is getting old.  How many times do people around me have to get hurt, do things have to get destroyed, and do we have to pretend that my presence is just a coincidence?  No, I think we can say I have plenty of fault in things now.”  Grabbing the leg from the chair that lay on the ground, Lena pulled it to her and started to dig again at the end of her shackle that was in the wall.  “Would it be okay if I just talked to you for a while?  I think it will help me to remain conscious.”

“Anything Lena.”

As she pried and dug, Lena let her mind wander.  She thought she might well be dead in the next hour.  Her friend might also.  What seemed important?  “Did you know Mon-El and I almost got married?”

There was a long silence before Kara said, “Does that mean something different than I think it means?”

“No.”

“How?  When?”

“On Rhea’s ship.  Rhea performed the ceremony.  In case you are even slightly unclear, it was under threat of her destroying a children’s hospital and then anything else that she needed to until we agreed.  Until she had sighted the Luthor Children’s Hospital, we had both told her where she could stick her wedding plans.”

“Damn,” Kara breathed.  “Okay, so why?”

“To join the people of Daxam and the people of Earth.  Apparently, it is an old custom from their planet when they take over a new one.  It legitimizes the heir.”

“The heir?  There was going to be an heir?”

Lena stopped digging for a moment and looked back at Kara.  “You know, Rhea had to be the worst excuse for a mother ever to exist.  She’s really put my own mother in perspective for me, and I’m saying that chained to a wall, with a bullet in my leg, with my best friend poisoned and chained to a wall nearby.  Rhea set the bar really low.”  Raising her voice to a near yell, Lena said, “You hear that mother?  If I live through this, you could get a Mother’s Day present this year!”

“You actually think you mother wants you dead?  That makes no sense.  This must be about Cadmus,” Kara said.

“I agree.  She’s threatening me and threatening you.  She’s obviously willing to kill us both if I don’t do what she wants.  I’ll die before I join Cadmus.  What about you, Kara?”

“Don’t join Cadmus, not to save my life or for any other reason.”

Lena nodded and began to dig at her shackle again.  “Well then, we better figure out some way to get ourselves out of here if we aren’t negotiating with terrorists.  Are you feeling any better?”

“No.  I feel about the same though.”

“At least no worse.  That’s good I suppose.  I’m making a little bit of headway here.  It’s slow going, but based on the size of the head, I don’t think the bolts are several inches long.  I’m thinking an inch and a half.  This is really shoddy workmanship.  When I create a dungeon to keep people in after I kidnap them, I’m going to make it of much higher quality material.  I bet this one hasn’t even had a final walkthrough.”

Despite the situation, Kara smiled.  “You’re going to create a dungeon and kidnap people?”

“Of course I am.  I’m a Luthor.  Dungeons and kidnappings are a family business.  I’ll tell you something else Kara; so far I’ve been on the wrong side of this little scheme.  I keep getting kidnapped, shot at, my aircraft get blown up, I get…I get…”

“Shoved off balconies,” Kara suggested.

“Yes that,” Lena said pointing over at Kara before returning to her prying.  “Thank you, Kara.  Thanks for sending Supergirl that time too.  That one was much too close.  Oh, and I nearly got smashed with my own company sign.  That would have just been awful for the stocks and in my obituaries.  Then there was the time I nearly died in the explosion on that mountain, and—”

“Huh, you have almost died a lot plus the kidnappings.  How are you so calm?”

“Because I’ve almost died a lot plus the kidnappings.  Kara, if I get hysterical every time one of my relatives tries to kill me, I’d live in a padded cell.  This is just part of my life.  It’s awful, but it’s part of my life.”  Stopping again, she looked over at Kara and added, “It shouldn’t be part of yours though.  You’re the best person I know, and I’d give anything not to have dragged you down into the mud with me.  Don’t take this the wrong way, but I wish we had never been friends.”

“I don’t.”

“That’s because you’re too good for me, for any Luthor.  Kara, I promise you, if there is any way I can get you out of here, anything short of joining my mother’s genocidal order, I’ll do it.  You’ve always been there for me, completely without reservations.  You’ve been the one true friend I’ve ever had.  I didn’t know there were such good and honest people in this world until I met you…well, you and Supergirl.”  Lena pried the base of her shackle a bit more, her eyes widening.  “I think I’m getting it.”

“Me and Supergirl?  You think Supergirl and I are both good and honest people in your life?” Kara asked.

“Kara, it’s moving now.  I’m making headway.”

“Lena, you said you didn’t know there were good and honest people like me and Supergirl before.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Lena agreed with a grunt, wiping cold sweat from her forehead.  “When you’re a Luthor, you never know who the people around you really are.  Everyone is always lying to you.  There’s always some kind of subterfuge.  I’ve had people lie about who they really were, go by a different name, just to try and get in my good graces.  That kind of betrayal kept me from ever keeping my name from anyone.  They could treat me badly because of my last name, but they weren’t going to treat me well because I held it back.  Ugh!” With a heave of effort, Lena pried the base of the shackle away from the wall.  The bolts pulled loose, and she fell backward to the stone floor.

“Lena?  Lena, are you okay?”  When there was no response, just quiet breathing, Kara tried to push herself upright again.  Her arms shook, and she couldn’t hold it.  Collapsing to the floor again, she called out, “Lena?”

“…Kara?”

“Oh thank Rao,” Kara said quietly.  “Lena, are you okay?”

“Yes I…I think I may have passed out for a moment there.  Was I out long?”

“No, less than a minute.  What happened?”

“I don’t uh…” Lena pulled herself around to see her handiwork.  “Kara, it worked.  I’m free from the wall.”

“That’s great,” Kara replied with little enthusiasm.  “Can you get out of here?”

Dragging herself across the floor to Kara, Lena didn’t speak until she reached the blonde.  It took several minutes, and Lena paused a few times along the way.  Arriving with her chair leg in hand, she said, “I’m going to try and free you too.”

“Lena, don’t try and free me.  Just get out of here.  Get help if you can, but get yourself out of here.  Your mother wants you not me.”

Ignoring Kara, Lena began to dig at the base of Kara’s shackle where it met the wall.  “I wouldn’t leave you even if I could.”

“What do you mean, even if you could?”

“I can’t walk, and I’m going into shock, Kara.  Let’s just concentrate on getting you out of here.  Now, what should we talk about?  How about your sister?  She’s still dating that cop that arrested me, right?  How’s that going?”

Looking up at Lena, shaky and sweaty in the green lighting, Kara tried to clear her mind enough to understand what was going on.  “Lena, what was it your mother said to you before she shot you?”

“Well, it wasn’t I love you.”

“I’m being serious, Lena.  What was it that Lillian said exactly?” Kara asked again.

“Something about giving me the gift of clarity.  She said it was a great gift from mother to daughter or something like that.  Then…” Lena made a little gun shooting motion with one of her hands. “The good news for me, if I somehow don’t die here, is that Lex apparently inherited the insanity from Mother, and I’m not her biological child.  The bad news for me is I’m probably going to die here.”

Staring up at the green glow from the ceiling, Kara swallowed hard.  “What did Lillian say before that?”

“Just more of her usual anti-alien ramblings.”  Lena stopped for a moment, hand on the wall and forehead against her arm.  Then she mumbled to herself.  “Come on Lena.  Don’t let that bitch beat you.”  After taking a few breaths, she began to pry at the shackle again.

“Lena, your mother said something about Rhea and a conspiracy.  What was it exactly?”

“Crazy Lillian Luthor stuff.  She was trying to convince me that it wasn’t my fault that I let Rhea trick me into creating the portal.  She told me that everyone else knew that Rhea was some evil alien menace but was keeping the information from me.  She said I was at the middle of some great conspiracy.  My mother claimed that even now, people were letting me taking the blame and accept the guilt for letting the Daxamite’s invade when it was actually their fault for not telling me the truth.  As I told you Kara, paranoid Lillian Luthor ranting.”

Her eyes still affixed on the green glow from the ceiling, Kara said, “Maybe it was more than that.  Maybe she thinks you need to hear the truth, and she just wanted you in a position where someone’s hand was forced.”

“Well…my mother’s never been gentle,” Lena said with a sigh.  “Kara, whatever happens, you need to try and…try and get yourself out of here, okay?  Are you feeling any better?”

“No, and I’m not going to,” Kara said, still looking at the ceiling.  “Lena, my life, it’s complicated.  I liked you the first time I met you.  I actually had a really good feeling about you.  It surprised me, but my life is complicated.”

“Everyone’s life is complicated, Kara.  Life is complicated.  Right now you need to keep on living though.” Pausing to breathe deeply, Lena said, “Your system may eventually fight off whatever my mother put in you.  As soon as you feel even a little bit stronger, you need to get your way out of here and keep moving.  Just keep moving, all right?  No matter what happens to me, keep moving.”

Ignoring Lena’s remarks, Kara closed her eyes and said, “I trust you.  I want you to know that Lena.  It’s never been a trust issue with you and me.  When your mother escaped from jail, even with that video of you stealing the Kryptonite, I knew you didn’t do it.  I know you, and I trust you, but my life is just complicated.  Part of it is work stuff, and part of it is having a friend I can just be myself with, just be Kara Danvers.  It was never about trust though.”

“I trust you too,” Lena replied, resting her arm against the wall and her forehead on her arm.  “I just uh…I just wish…”

“I would have told you eventually, because I trust you, and I do want you to know everything about me.  I just wish my life weren’t so…well, it’s complicated.  Your mother, she knows that it’s complicated and I think she wants me to be the one to—” Kara’s eyes flashed open, the blonde startled when Lena slumped against her.  “Lena?  Lena, no Lena!?”  When she tried to pull Lena with the little strength she had, the dark haired woman fell unconscious to the floor.  “No, Lena no!”  Grabbing her friend’s hand, Kara tried to drag Lena closer, but all she managed to do was grasp that hand, tears rolling down her face.  “No.  No!  I’ll tell her!  Don’t let her die!  I’ll tell her!”  Though her voice wasn’t strong, Kara used what little strength she had to project her voice out through the room.  She lay there staring at her friend, holding Lena’s hand, so weakened by the Kryptonite that she couldn’t even hear the other woman’s heart.  She could hear her own though, pulse pounding in her ears, heart breaking.  It was the sound of the lie that had hung between them for months.  It was the sound of it crashing down between them.  It was one more death piling on top of a mountain already as high as a planet full of souls.  It was regret, final, tragic, and tangible.

Sobbing and broken down, Kara closed her eyes again as she stretched out along the stone floor and held her friend's hand.  The coolness soaked into her body, a chill she’d rarely felt.  It was nearly a minute later when her body warmed, and she realized her strength was returning, that Kara opened her eyes.  A glance at the ceiling revealed a metal panel, no doubt lead, had covered the green glow, and only soft white light along the outer edges remained.  Second-by-second Kara’s strength grew.  Grabbing the cuff at her wrist with her other hand, Kara pulled until it snapped loose in her grip.  She grabbed the one around Lena’s leg, snapping it from around the other woman’s ankle and standing on swaying legs with Lena in her arms.

Her ears strained, and Kara was rewarded with the fluttering of Lena’s heart.  “I’m going to get you out of here.  I won’t let you die.”

The door slowed Kara briefly, but one kick sent it smashing off the opposite wall, dust rising up as she stepped into the hallway with Lena in her arms.  Breathing heavily even after that little bit of effort, Kara looked over her glasses as she scanned down the hallway left and right.  Right showed people around the corner, people who seemed to be listening to some kind of communication devices, so Kara moved left.  The hallway ended and turned right, continuing for quite a while. 

As she gained momentum, movement along the walls drew Kara’s attention.  Weapons popped out of hidden panels, and she spun as bullets bounced off of her back.  She staggered forward, gritting her teeth at actual pain, feeling like the bullets might have left bruises.  She really needed some time under a sun lamp.  Looking over her shoulder, Kara shot heat vision over her glasses, taking out each gun and clearing the hallway.  She checked the area with her x-ray vision just to make sure, but it looked clear, and she continued forward with Lena.

Kara was making good headway, turning left, right, whichever path seemed clearer.  She really wished she’d been conscious when she had been brought here.  She wished Lena was conscious now for multiple reasons.  At least she was making better time as her strength slowly came back.  It was Lena’s strength that was fading.  She could tell she was moving upward though, and that was the goal.  Closer to the surface was closer to getting Lena help.

Coming around the corner drew a new sound, some kind of electrical whirring and a mechanical noise.  Kara stopped, hearing it from both ends of the hallway.  In front of her, she saw them, robots that were roughly shaped like tops with large metal shields.  She blasted out with heat vision, but it bounced off the surface of the shield to hit the ceiling and cause a piece to crumble off.  Worried she’d be more likely to bring the place down on top of Lena, Kara inhaled and blew ice breath at the robots freezing them in place.  She spun, blasting more of it down the hallway in the other direction and taking out the rest.  Turning back to the way she’d been headed, she continued forward at an ever increasing clip.

After just a few more turns, her x-ray vision showed her a doorway that led to above ground.  She saw no traps, no robots, and no humans guarding the way.  There was no lead hiding any Kryptonite.  She hurried forward, kicking the door open that sailed dozens of feet ahead of her.  It took a few clumsy attempts before she got herself into the air and lifted off, still shaking the last of the Kryptonite from her system, but then she was gone with Lena.  Miles to a nearby hospital was only a few minutes.  A few minutes was in time.  One more life was saved.  One fewer soul was added to the mountain.  Tragedy was averted for another day at least, and for Supergirl, the world kept spinning in the right direction.  She’d lost so much.  She’d lost more than most people on this globe could comprehend.  There was a point where one more would be her breaking point, but that point wasn’t today.


	3. Film at Eleven

Lying in the hospital bed, Lena finished her jello cup.  Her mind raced over the past two days since she’d been dropped off here by Supergirl.  Security was tight outside her hospital room door, and texts from Kara had assured her that between the FBI and NCPD, Kara was covered.  Lena was still curious as to what exactly her mother had given Kara, but Kara had only said she was feeling much better and would be coming to visit today.  All she needed was some rest and good California sunshine and air.

Lena scratched at the plastic bandage that covered the sutures on her leg.  It was So. Damn. Itchy!!!  That’s it.  As soon as she was out of here, she was putting L-Corp resources into an adhesive that worked without causing such…Lena’s mind refocused as it was pulled back to reality.  No, non-itchy bandages weren’t going to be on her radar.  She was going to keep pouring all of her resources into her personal project, then sign everything over to the board as soon as she heard from her lawyers that they’d lost.  Then she’d be on a plane to somewhere very far away.  She hoped that even if she couldn’t solve the issue, at least she could make enough headway that someone else would pick up her work and make a difference.  She’d done too much ill in her life, hurt someone she cared for.  With what time she had left, she needed to try and make a difference.

Her phone chimed, and she thought it was Kara.  Grabbing the phone, the little smile fell off her face when Lena saw it was from an unknown number.  The text was concerning.

Unknown number: “I heard you came well through surgery.  How are you feeling?”

Lena: “How did you get this number?”

Unknown number: “Really Lena?  Is that any way to speak to family?”

Lena’s blood ran cold immediately at the word ‘family’.  That could only be one of two people.  What were the odds it was Lex?  If he could get hired killers after her in prison, he could get a cellphone.  Still, would he bother?  Was this like him?  She sighed.  No, this wasn’t Lex.  Lena knew exactly who was texting her.  She went into her contacts and entered a name for the number before typing her reply.

Lena: “I’d say family doesn’t try to kill each other, but that’s all my family seems to try and do with me.  What do you want, Mother?”

Devil Incarnate: “You always were the dramatic one, Lena.  I wasn’t trying to kill you.  As you said, I just saved your life last month.  This wasn’t about closing your eyes; it was about opening them.”

Lena: “And you say I’m the dramatic one.  You shot me.”

Devil Incarnate: “Not in anything major.  I’m a doctor.  I know how to avoid major arteries.  If you hadn’t moved around so much, you’d have been fine.”

Lena: “Don’t doctors have medical licenses?”

There was a pause, and Lena smirked.  That was a cheap shot, but she was lying in a hospital bed thanks to her mother.  All things considered, it wasn’t **that** cheap a shot.

Devil Incarnate: “Have you spoken to Kara since your time together under my care?”

Lena: “Your definition of the word care always did leave one wanting.”

Devil Incarnate: “Well then maybe I’ll get a dictionary as that Mother’s Day gift.  Have you spoken to Kara?”

Lena’s brow furrowed, and she bit at the pad of her thumb.  That was twice now her mother had mentioned Kara.  She’d only texted with her friend.  She’d assumed Kara was fine, and the texts did seem like Kara even down to the happy little emojis, but what if…!?

Lena: “What have you done with Kara!?”

Devil Incarnate: “Nothing.  So you haven’t spoken to her yet?  You and she haven’t hashed things out?”

Lena: “Don’t play with me, Mother.  Is Kara all right?”

Devil Incarnate: “As far as I know she’s fine.  I’ve done nothing to her.  She was never in any real danger from me, Lena.  What I did to her wouldn’t have killed her.  I never wanted to hurt either of you.  I only wanted the two of you to talk, and you were avoiding her.  I needed the two of you to talk before you left the country.”

Lena: “Why?”

Devil Incarnate: “So you would consider my job offer.  Why else?  Well, if Miss Danvers hasn’t spoken to you, there’s a video I’d like you to watch.  I’ve had it cleaned up to get the best lighting and angles from all of the cameras.  Don’t worry by the way.  Only Hank and I have seen it, and he already knows.”

Lena: “Knows what?”

Devil Incarnate: “Lena, watch the video.  I told you people were lying to you.  I told you people were letting you blame yourself for things they kept hidden from you.  This whole alien invasion, it wasn’t your fault.  They want you to think it is though.  If you watch the video, you’ll see I’m telling you the truth.  Not only has this been a conspiracy, it has been an alien conspiracy.”

Lena: “I already know you’re lying to me.”

Devil Incarnate: “Then watch the video.  Lena, it’s less than four minutes long.  Watch it, and if I’m lying to you, delete it and block my number.  If I’m telling the truth, I can protect you from the people who have been keeping tabs on you.  You don’t have to flee the country.  You can come home to mother.”

Lena sat trying to decide how to respond to this latest rambling from her mother.  Not only was it a conspiracy, now it was an alien conspiracy against her.  As much as she’d made comments about her mother’s insanity, it wasn’t until this moment that Lena realized how true they were.  Her mother was insane.  Her father was an alcoholic which no doubt led to his early death, and now her brother and mother had both gone insane.  Given that her brother was trying to kill her, and so was her mother when Lillian wasn’t saving her, Lena doubted she’d make it to thirty.  Life was a real kick in the ass sometimes.  Well, at least a lot of charities would be better off in a few years.

When her phone chimed again, Lena thought it was just another next from her mother, but there was a thumbnail for a video.  She had no intention of watching it, but the image made her pause and drew in her attention.  Eyes narrowing, she pulled her phone closer and turned it sideways again to expand the image.  Was that…?

“Jesus H. Christ,” Lena whispered.  “You are completely insane.  You videoed it.  You made a…oh my God, Mother.  You tortured us and videoed us?  You need help.”

Still, some sick fascination drew her in, and despite knowing better, Lena touching the screen over the play arrow.  Immediately it jumped to life showing Kara lying on the ground, staring up at the ceiling, and Lena herself trying to pry Kara’s shackle away from the wall.

 

 

_Kara said, “Lena, my life, it’s complicated.  I liked you the first time I met you.  I actually had a really good feeling about you.  It surprised me, but my life is complicated.”_

_“Everyone’s life is complicated, Kara.  Life is complicated.  Right now you need to keep on living though.” Lena saw herself huffing as she paused, trying to catch her breath. “Your system may eventually fight off whatever my mother put in you.  As soon as you feel even a little bit stronger, you need to get your way out of here and keep moving.  Just keep moving, all right?  No matter what happens to me, keep moving.”_

_Eyes closing the blonde said, “I trust you.  I want you to know that Lena.  It’s never been a trust issue with you and me.  When your mother escaped from jail, even with that video of you stealing the Kryptonite, I knew you didn’t do it.  I know you, and I trust you, but my life is just complicated.  Part of it is work stuff, and part of it is having a friend I can just be myself with, just be Kara Danvers.  It was never about trust though.”_

_“I trust you too,” Lena said as she leaned against the wall._

Lena didn’t remember this part.  This is mainly what made her press play.  She wondered what else had happened, if anything had happened before she passed out that she had forgotten.  Apparently at least a little bit had.

_“I just uh…I just wish…”_

_“I would have told you eventually, because I trust you, and I do want you to know everything about me.  I just wish my life weren’t so…well, it’s complicated.  Your mother, she knows that it’s complicated and I think she wants me to be the one to—” As Lena collapsed onto her friend, Kara’s eyes opened suddenly.  “Lena?  Lena, no Lena!?”  The blonde grabbed at Lena which only caused Lena to fall to the ground.  “No, Lena no!”_

“Dear God in Heaven,” Lena sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.  “I’m so sorry Kara.  This is my mother’s great alien conspiracy?  I promise I’ll do whatever I can to see that she’s caught before I go, just to make sure you’re safe.”

_Kara cried, her tears streaming as she held Lena’s hand unable to tug the other woman closer.  “No.  No!  I’ll tell her!  Don’t let her die!  I’ll tell her!”_

Head tilting to the side, Lena said, “Tell me what?  What could you possibly have to tell me?”

Lena watched while Kara lay in the green lighting, then saw the lighting change.  She couldn’t see why it happened, just that it did.  The light changed to a soft glow.  It was another minute or two before Kara lifted her head.  She stared at the ceiling again, her blue eyes widening.  She pushed upright, grabbing the cuff with her free hand and ripping it in two before doing the same to metal cuff still around Lena’s ankle.

Gasping, Lena nearly dropped her phone.  “What the fuck!?”

_Kara lifted Lena easily and paused, maybe listening, then looked down at Lena in her arms and said, “I’m going to get you out of here.  I won’t let you die.”_

“I…I…I…” Lena’s mind was going a mile a minute as she watched Kara kick the door to their cell not just open but clear across the hall to slam off the wall.  The camera changed, and they were showing Kara running down a hallway as if she weren’t carrying Lena in her arms.  When guns popped out of the wall, Kara spun, and bullets bounced off of her back.  Turning to look over her shoulder, Kara stared the guns down, lasers shooting from her eyes.

Another camera showed the two of them in another hallway.  Robots advanced, and this time the laser eye bursts were deflected.  An icy blast of Kara’s breath froze two sets of robots and then they were off again.  Kara kept stopping.  Looking over her glasses and seemingly through walls before taking off again.  Finally, they came to another door that Kara kicked out even further than the first door.  A new camera showed Kara taking several running attempts, jumping into the air, and then finally…

“Flying,” Lena breathed.  “Oh my God she’s—”

“Lena?”

Lena almost dropped her phone again when she looked up at the person standing in the doorway.

“Kara!  Kara, you’re…here.  You’re here to see me because…” Lena lay her phone face down against her torso, pressing the button to turn it off before it started to play again.  “Right, you’re visiting me today.  I knew that.”

“How are you?” Kara asked, hands fidgeting together, then rolling her eyes at herself.  “Dumb question Danvers.  You’re in the hospital because your mother shot you.  I mean…” Kara sighed, walking closer to her friend.  “I was worried about you.”

“Same here.  I was worried about you too.  You were…poisoned,” Lena said the last word slowly, watching Kara’s reaction.

“Yeah,” Kara said, looking down at her hands as a little crinkle appeared between her brows.

Lena’s eyes narrowed.  She’d seen that crinkle countless times and never understood what it was.

“I wasn’t feeling well for a little while.  I wanted to come over sooner, but Alex wouldn’t let me.  Lena, if it had been up to me, I wouldn’t have left you in the hospital at all.  I didn’t leave until Alex showed up and we had security for in place to cover you.  By the time they did, I wasn’t at 100%, and I got whisked away.  I didn’t want to leave you.  You have to believe me.”

Lena looked into Kara’s face which was open and honest…and no crinkle.  “I do Kara.  I do.”

Relaxing and with a little smile forming on her face, Kara said, “Thank you.”  She pulled up a chair, her fingers nervously fumbling over each other.  “So, um, what do you remember?”

“You mean what’s the last thing I remember before I passed out?” Lena clarified.

Making eye contact, Kara nodded.

“I was talking to you, telling you to get yourself out of there, and then…nothing,”  Lena said wiping her hands in front of her.  “You had been saying something about trusting me, and it was all very sweet, but I honestly wasn’t listening too closely, Kara.  I hope you don’t think that makes me a bad friend.  I wasn’t expecting to live, but I hoped you might.”

“You’re an amazing friend!” Kara said suddenly, reaching out and placing her hand on Lena’s arm.  “I only hope you think I’ve been a good friend to you.  You deserve the best, Lena.”

With her best CEO smile, Lena replied, “Well, I think you’ve been as good as two friends could have been to me, Kara.  I don’t think I truly appreciated you until this exact moment.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Kara replied with a bright smile.

“Oh, it might be.”

“Seriously though, how do you feel, Lena?  Not just physically, but emotionally, how are you feeling?  This whole thing with your mom has got to have left you wrung out.”

Though she heard Kara’s voice, Lena stared at the blonde’s sincere face.  No longer did she see Kara Danvers.  She didn’t see Supergirl either.  Suddenly there was someone new sitting there, an amalgamation of them both.  Kara’s bravery along with Supergirl’s awkwardness and that tiny scar between her eyes but to the left were suddenly glaringly obvious.  In the back of Lena’s mind, a memory played.  It was her and her father at a magic show.  As the show ended, she asked him about magic, what was real, what wasn’t, and he’d asked her a question in return.

_“So now, what do you want, darling.  Do you want to pull back the curtain and look behind it, or do you want to enjoy the illusion?  Do you want to believe in magic, Lena?”_

_A five-year-old Lena lay her head onto her father’s shoulder again and said, “I want to believe in magic, Father.  Magic is real!”_

_Lionel laughed, holding his daughter close as he walked out into the night air of Metropolis.  “Yes, it is, darling.  Don’t you ever let anyone take that away from you.  Not age, not science, and especially not your mother.  Magic is very real, and you can believe in the illusion as long as you want to.”_

_“I want to Father,” Lena assured him.  “I want to.”_

“Lena?” Kara said again.

“I’m sorry Kara, I’m…pain meds.  What were you saying?”

“Just that I’m worried about you.  Whatever is going on, I want us to be able to talk about it.  I’ll do anything I can do to help you,” Kara said looking quite sincere.  “After what happened with your mother, how are you doing?”

Curling her hand over the cellphone on her torso, Lena replied, “Well Kara…it’s complicated.”


End file.
